Often vehicle owners are unable to accurately assess the current condition of the vehicles they own, because the only information available is maintenance/repair records or vehicle gauge readings. It is impossible to accurately assess the condition of a vehicle from such general information, and, as a result, vehicle owners are often faced with unexpected repair costs, abnormal vehicle behavior, and/or unnecessary vehicle depreciation. Vehicle owners who would address potential vehicle issues, if aware of any issues, are unable to proactively avoid mechanical problems and/or vehicle depreciation because of a lack of relevant information.
Moreover, widely used vehicle sharing services, such as vehicle rental or leasing services, carpooling or vanpooling services, ride sharing services, etc., have no easy way to determine the correlation between changes in vehicle condition and individual drivers. Operation of shared vehicles by certain drivers may result in expensive maintenance/repair costs, while the operation of shared vehicle by other drivers, who pay the same or a similar vehicle sharing charge, results in minimal maintenance costs. Even so, a vehicle sharing service has no easy way of determining how a shared vehicle is driven (e.g. severe acceleration and braking, towing a trailer, etc.), where the shared vehicle is driven (rural areas, urban areas, the “salt belt,” etc.), and under what conditions was the shared vehicle driven (e.g. traffic, highway, snow, etc.).